This scene depicts five men in a smith’s workshop. The apprentice appears to be working but the other men seem to be listening to one of their company reading from a paper.
Although the flag pictured is not the French flag, it is very similar. After the French Revolution took place in 1789 it took some time for the new Republic’s flag to be standardised and this may explain the design. It is likely that the artist is referencing the politically active times of the 1790s when Sheffield had a reputation as a hotbed of radicalism.

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